Diamond in the Dirt

Fruit Bats, Mouthfuls (2003)

 

Is this country? That kind of country that isn’t allowed to be called country but is country? Guess not because it doesn’t have deep vocals or songs about pickups and beer (how controversial)...so I guess this is a folk-rock album. Eh, I’ll take it. I didn’t check but it feels like a debut album so I’ll say it is. I bet they had an EP before this that people pretend to love but has such rough production it’s only value is in the cool factor. Is this band even cool? I like the name…probably what kept them from going mainstream but then again this music isn’t about being cool it’s about having something besides Sea Change to listen to when you’re sad about a girl.

 

Rainbow Sign brings a delightfully indie/Shins-esque warmth with tappy percussion and a plucky vibraphone. The track seems to act as a Part I opener for the second track A Bit of Wind. Opening with a seamless vocal belting that is oh so satisfying the lyrics continue to deliver a preciseness that just massages my brain’s linguistic system that only the obsessive nature of Phil Spector could produce. Oh shit, he brought his gun into the studio again! Fuck, is that a magnum? No. It’s a Mangum. You can tell by the orchestration of particular instruments that put my ears in an airplane over the sea, although it truly would take a bit of wind to get this next track to lift off after that outro.

 

The third track Magic Hours comes in with a restrained tempo’d acoustic ditty paired with catchy vocals and great harmonization. The chorus here is mesmerizing. In line with the album thus far the instrumentation and production is just so tasteful: an absolutely wonderful listening experience. Is it ruined with the next track? Nope. Eric Johnson (not the Cliffs of Dover guy apparently) provides, to me atleast, a song reminiscent of the track ‘Creep’ by Stone Temple Pilots but with a less dark cloud above. The Little Acorn provides another ballad with fantastic panning synth arpeggios. Track Rabbits gives an instrumental intermission with a beautiful driving bass and a mellotron that steers the ship into space. Back on solid ground Union Blanket gives us a plucky banjo/acoustic intro followed by space-dust synth dropped by the spaceship metaphor I came up with for the last track (I hope you liked it). Vocals here are a bit more drunk but you get some digital claps which oh man do I always appreciate. Fuck this album is good. Lovin’ the background synthetic static and there aren’t enough words for synthesizers (I feel repetitive).

 

Lazy Eye ~ what a depressing pile of ~ v i b e. Absolutely love its restraint and reverb’d piano. The vocal harmonization is phenomenal. One issue with the unstated way I’m reviewing these albums is the lack of time to dive into the lyrics themselves. I feel once I fall in love with an album the lyrics are what seals the deal for me and wow all throughout I am impressed with the lyrics. So tasteful yet something that lets me personify life back into the song, maybe I can go on and argue here that music itself is a medium that lacks some characteristics but wow did I leave this to the last second to write and I’m just vibing out to this album dude it’s just so good. Is there even another song? Oh yeah, Slipping Through the Sensors is a song about robbing a bank probably, they don’t give me many lyrics to work with here.

Yaow, coming up on the end of this album now. Seaweed is another lovely ballad but it sounds like a girl is here now with her pretty girl voice. When U Love Somebody puts a tiny happy bow on a masterpiece of an album. Wow was this a pleasant one: an absolute joy cover to cover.

 

Goodnight!

-          Ape